The ongoing power crisis has severely disrupted freelancing work, causing unscheduled delays and an image crisis for freelancers among their employers.

The situation is even worse for the freelancers working outside Dhaka amid poor internet connections, a lack of backup workstations and long power cuts.

The freelancing industry in Bangladesh has gained momentum due to swift work delivery. However, industry insiders said that the power cuts made meeting deadlines challenging.

The Bangladesh Freelancer Development Society president, Tanjiba Rahman, told New Age that the industry’s reputation would suffer if the situation persisted for long.

She told New Age that many freelancers had already missed deadlines due to power cuts that hampered the reputation and image of the industry.

‘As internet providers are also struggling with power cuts, freelancers often lose access to the internet, even if the power returns, bottlenecking the workflow,’ Tanjiba added.

Md Mehedi Hasan, a Rangpur-based freelancer, said that small-scale workers are more vulnerable during the power crisis.

‘Many small-scale freelancers have failed to deliver work on time because they rarely have the means to afford a backup laptop or power source. The situation is grimmer in rural areas,’ he said.

‘It is difficult to meet the deadlines as there are many unscheduled power cuts. Moreover, the clients have to consider deadlines repeatedly, which hampers the industry’s image,’ Mehedi added.

Khulna-based digital marketer, trainer, and  freelancer KD Manojit acknowledged that beginners and mid-range freelancers were particularly vulnerable to losing work due to the power crisis.

‘Many of my students could not secure the freelancing work they should have due to power cuts. Only top-tier freelancers could afford backup power supplies and workstations,’ he said.

Manojit added, ‘Many students have to work at specific times, and the power cuts disrupt their daily routine. The availability of internet due to the power cuts is also a serious concern for freelancers.’

Dhaka-based web developer and freelancer Rezaul Karim blamed the power crisis for deteriorating client relationships and a more challenging work environment.

‘The power cuts affect our ratings and payments on different platforms. In one instance, the client froze my payments due to the late submission that occurred due to power cuts,’ he said.

Rezaul added that uninterrupted power supply and the availability of high-speed internet were essential for the industry.

According to a 2022 survey conducted by the Oxford Internet Institute, Bangladesh is the second-largest online labour seller with a global market share of 16 per cent, only behind India.

More than 650,000 Bangladeshis are working as freelancers, earning more than $100 million per year, the Information and Communication Technology Division revealed.

State minister for power, energy and mineral resources Nasrul Hamid on October 10 said there was no hope of improvement in the current power situation until November.

‘We keep some power generation units closed during the daytime while others are shut down at night. That’s why the extent of load shedding has increased,’ he said.

As most of the freelancing works are delivered during the night from Bangladesh due to time adjustments with the west, night-time power cuts significantly affected them, Tanjiba Rahman observed.

Daily official accounts of electricity demand and supply, provided by the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh, showed that the overall situation improved briefly at the beginning of September but saw a drastic deterioration in October.